Heads rolled after Obama’s stimulation restrictions were voted into place allowing companies receiving federal support to limit executive salaries to $500,000.  According to an article from StockWire, Crain’s, a New York business weekly, conducted an impromptu study of the Manhattan banking elite’s typical expenses.  Let’s read on to find out how drastically these stipulations will affect the upper echelon of Manhattan’s wealthiest.

Taken from StockWire:

TAXES: $201,070
You’re the top tax bracket, that is. Washington, Albany and City Hall together gobble up about 40% of your paycheck.

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HOUSING: $75,000
Figure $4,000 a month maintenance fees for the Park Avenue co-op and $15,000 a year in property taxes for the second home. Garage: $12,000.

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CHILDREN: $106,275
Includes tuition at Brearley ($33,025) and a year at Harvard ($52,650). Music lessons, sports teams and tutors quickly add up to another $8,000. REMAINING: $117,655

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SOCIAL: $33,000
Harvard Club dues are $2,000 a year per couple, and Westchester County golf clubs typically charge $16,000; food and entertaining tabs are another $15,000.

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VACATIONS: $36,000
Three weeks at $12K a week for a family of four.

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FOOD: $15,000
Groceries for four ($10,000 a year), plus meals out (fancy and kidfriendly) two to three times a week.

I bet I know what you’re thinking right now.  “My God!  Only 36K for their annual vacations?  Selling off their weekend home in Connecticut?  However will they survive?!?”

Now I’m no economist, and maybe there’s something I’m missing in regards to how this will affect New York’s own economy — less money for businesses in Manhattan and the people that cater to them?  But I’m having a hard time feeling sorry for these kings of the corner office.

Let’s be realistic:  500K is still a hefty paycheck.  If they were so worried about losing their extravagant lifestyles, I wonder why they didn’t diversify and create multiple income streams.  After all, you never know when a company is going to come back and (reluctantly) bite you in the ass.

With people losing their jobs left and right and struggling to survive in this grand ‘ole city, it’s not only insensitive to bemoan the loss of a 36K vacation, it’s disgusting.  I hope I speak for all of us bottom dwellers when I say they should “kindly shut the hell up” and readjust their lives just like the rest of us.

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